Ore separator



Oct. 21 1924.

R. J. PIERSOL ET AL ORE SEPARATOR Filed May 15. 1920 am n m 1 Patented Oct. 21, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT JAMES PIEBSOL, OF HOUSTON, AND ALBERT DOWL-ER RILEY, OF GRAFTON, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNORS TO STANDARD CHEMICAL COMPANY, OF PITTSBURGH,

PENNSYLVANIA.

- ORE SEPARATOR.

Application filed-May 15,

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that we, ROBERT J. PIERSOL and ALBERT D. RILEY,.CltlZ6I1S of the United States, and residents of Houston and Grafton, in thecounties of \Vashington and Allegheny, respectively,.and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ore Separators; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it 'appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in ore separators and more particularly'to a machine for liberating value-bearingconstituents from the gangue of ore .when said gangue consists of sand grains,the object of the invention being to .provide a machine for the purpose stated which will operate to cause removal of the value bearing constituents from the sand grains by shearing.

A further object is to providesimple and efficient means of adjustment whereby the most effective shearing of the ore under treatment shall be insured.

With these and other objectsin view, the invention consists in certain novel .features of constructions and arrangements of parts as hereinafter set forth and pointedout in the claims.

In the accompanying.drawings; Figure '1 is a longitudinal sectional view, and Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view of a machine illustrating our invention.

In the concentration of oresin which that portion which embodies the valuebearing constituents is soft and the gangue portion composed of sand particles,.such ore for example, as carnotite,--it is a matter of considerable importance that the sand particles shall not be crushed because of the difliculty and expense of eliminating silica which might otherwise be mixed with the value bearing constituents, in subsequent treatment of the latter to recover the values. We have found by experience that the soft value-bearing constituents (which in carnotite ore is in a condition of impalpable comminution) can be most effectually and completely separated from the sand grains by a process of the shearing of the sand grains against each other. After the soft value-bearing constituents of the ore shall thus have been removed or detached from from the sand grams by vacuum in a dry process.

Heretofore, concentration of ore has been obtained by the compression of the ore between heavy mullers anda plate or surface on which the mullers roll, thus crushing the gangue portion as well as the softer valuebearing portion, but by the shearing method of separation, we are able to obtain a higher degree of concentration because liability of crushing and hence the connninuting of the sand grains is reduced to a minimum and the silicious constituents of the ore can therefore be prevented from escaping with the values during the process ofwet or dry classification.- Furthermore the shearing method of removing the value-bearing constituents from the sand gives higher grade ofextraction of values because the shearing insures ac-greater and more complete liberation of value-bearing constituents of the ore from the sand grains than can be obtained by compression or grinding of the ore.

In the drawing, we have illustrated a machine whereby the value-bearing constituents of ore, such as carnotite ore, may be effectually removed by shearing, from the sand ganguegrains, and which will operate effectually to treat ore containing a high percentage of moisture, thus eliminating the necessity for the use of a dewatering device previous to the concentration in a commercialplant.

In the embodiment of our invention shown in the drawing; 1 represents a cylinderthrough which a revoluble shaft 2 passes, suitable bearings 3, 3 being provided for said shaft, and the latter carries a pulley 4: to receive a driving belt from any convenient source of power. The cylinder 1 may be made in sections bolted together so that it may conveniently be made of any desired length to accommodate any desired number of units of the operating mechanism hereinafter described,-said cylinder being provided at one end with a hopper 5 into which the ore may be deposited and by which it will be directed into the cylinder, and at the other end of the cylinder, a discharge spout 6 is provided.

It may here be stated that ores as they are mined often include lumps of considerable. size. This is true of carnotite ore and these lumps must be reduced. e therefore crush the ore before discharging the latter into the hopper 5, but this crushing is such as to disintegrate the lumps without crushingLt-he sand particles.

ach unit of the machine comprises a spider 7 keyed or otherwise rigidly secured to the shaft 2, and a plurality of shearing blades 8,said spider being provided with arms 9 and pairs of lugs 10 with which the blades are connected. Each shearing blade is made in the form of a curved plate provided at one end with an arm 11 adjustably atached to one of the arms 9 of the spider bya pin-and-slot connection as indicated at At the other end of each blade, two pairs of lugs 13 are located and these are adjustably' connected with the lugs 10 of the spider through the medium of turn buckles lt and rod sections 15. The blades 8 are so disposed at an angle to the wall of the cylinder that each blade will form, with the wall of the cylinder, a wedge-shaped space'such as shown at 16, so that as the blades revolve, the ore will be sheared between said blade-sv and the wall of the cylinder. The adjustability of the blades and hence the adjustability of the wedge-shaped spaces between said blades and the wall of the cylinder, is a matter of importance, as the amount of shearing of the ore depends both on the size of'the space or opening at 17 and the angle between the blade relatively to the cylinder or casing which may be controlled by adjusting the leading end 18 of the blade. The blades may be adjusted as best suited to produce the most efficient shearing of the particular batch of ore to be treated.

The ore, previously crushed to reduce the lumps to proper size and containing a desired percentage of moisture will be fed into the hopper 5, and the ore will pass progressively through the several units (any desired number ofunits being provided to insure removal of a maximum amount of value-bearing constituents from the sand grains) and the sheared ore will be discharged through the spout 6. The ore thus discharged will be subjected to a suitable hydraulic or a dry classifier for separating the value-bearing constituents from the sand grains.

Having fully described our invention what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters-Patent, is

1. A machine for removing pulverulent value-bearing constituents from sand gangue, comprising a container having a smooth inner face, a revoluble shaft, a member carried by said shaft and having normally fixed relation thereto, said member having a smoother curved working face spaced at all points from the smooth inner face of the container and so disposed relatively to said inner face as to provide a continuously moving wedge-shaped space open at both ends.

2. A machine for removing pulverulent value-bearing constituents from sand gangue, comprising a container having a smooth inner face, a revoluble shaft, :1 plurality of members carried by said shaft and having normally fixed relation thereto, said members having smooth curved working faces permanently spaced at all points from the smooth inner face of the container, and so disposed relatively to said inner face as to provide continuously moving wedgeshaped spaces open at both ends.

3. A machine for removing pulveru lent value-bearing constituents from sand gangue, comprising a container having a smooth inner face, a revoluble shaft, a plurality of members normally fixed to said shaftand having curved smooth faces form ing with the inner face of said container a series of wedge-shaped spaces open at both ends, said members normally revolvable in a circular path, and means for adjusting said members to adjust the form of said wedge-shaped spaces.

In testimony whereof, we have signed this specification in the presence of the subscribing witnesses.

ALBERT DOVVLER RILEY.

Witnesses F. E. CRISTY, CHAS. H. SISSON.

ROBERT JAMES PIERSOL.

Witnesses VVILLIAM ZARLEY, N. B. KEARNEY. 

